Santo Domingo.– With emergency services out of action and hospitals destroyed, large numbers of Haitians looked for care and shelter across the border in the Dominican Republic, where staff in hospitals and clinics have saved many lives and prevented many people from suffering permanent disability after last January's massive quake.

But in some cases where the patient needs a long time to recover, relatives have been torn between remaining as a caregiver and returning to look for other relatives with the risk that they might not be allowed back into the country.

In a bid to resolve this dilemma, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) earlier this year asked the government of the Dominican Republic to grant one-year multiple entry visas on humanitarian grounds to such people. The government has responded by issuing visas to six people in recent weeks.

Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, head of UNHCR's emergency team in Santo Domingo, the humanitarian visas allow caregivers of the most gravely injured to cross the border legally, so they don't have to choose between the well-being of their spouse or child in the Dominican Republic and the family or property that they left behind.